Housing Minister James Browne’s admission that the government is considering a State-led saving scheme to help finance the delivery of homes – an initiative previously proposed by the Social Democrats – has been welcomed by Rory Hearne TD.
Deputy Hearne, who is the party’s housing spokesperson, said:
“I have today written to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Housing Minister offering to engage with them on the Social Democrats’ Homes for Ireland Savings Account plan.
“We need to see ideas implemented that can make a difference to the lives of a generation locked out of homeownership or those struggling to put a roof over their heads in a dysfunctional rental market.
“I am concerned with the slow pace and kite flying tendency of this government, so we want our initiative implemented immediately, as set out in our proposed Homes for Ireland Savings Account (HISA), which is similar to the Livret A model in France.
“This would be an innovative way of offering an incentivised savings scheme for Irish savers, while opening up a new source of domestic private financing for homebuilding in Ireland.
“Rather than continuing to chase unreliable global institutional funds to build unaffordable rental homes, removing rent caps or giving more tax breaks to developers, our scheme could leverage some of the €160 billion in Irish savings to deliver 50,000 affordable purchase and 25,000 cost rental homes over the next five years.
“There are other funding steams for housebuilding the State could be availing of at EU level that Ireland has not sufficiently accessed to date. We also believe that a properly structured and adequately funded tenant-in-situ scheme, as well a laser focus on bringing thousands of vacant homes back into use, should be considered by the government.
“The scale of our housing crisis requires cross-party solutions. The Social Democrats would like to assure the Minister that our door is always open if he would like to engage with us on any more of our ideas.
“However, while the Minister’s support for a State-led savings scheme is welcome, it is disappointing he has also signalled the government’s intention to make changes to Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs).
“This is something that will be strongly opposed by the Social Democrats. In support of strengthening renters’ rights, we will be holding a demonstration outside Leinster House on Wednesday evening (May 21).”
May 19, 2025